


A Simple Detour

by Hazelnuthelper



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, He's definitely not attached, Madara is definitely just here for the book of friends, Minor Original Character(s), Natsume Takashi's Terrible Childhood, Youkai, Young Natsume, definitely not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22328989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazelnuthelper/pseuds/Hazelnuthelper
Summary: Madara, having been unsealed early, had been journeying around Japan to relieve his boredom when he came upon a familiar smell. Out of curiosity, he decides to investigate further and discovers a strange human child who might just interest him.In which Madara encounters a young Natsume
Comments: 29
Kudos: 358





	1. Chapter 1

Madara was on a mission. A very important mission that would not be deterred by anything, not even the yapping dog behind a gateway that was just begging to be teased. And this mission was to sample every type of half-decent sake in Japan.

It was not an easy task for sure, and it took a lot more walking than his round lucky cat form could tolerate. But he really didn’t have anything better to do since being unsealed. He was, quite frankly, bored. It had been simply by coincidence that he had been released, some unsuspecting exorcist who must have had just enough power to accidently trip the _shimenawa_ while on the hunt for some low-level youkai. The inexperienced wimp was no match for Madara himself, and it had promptly fled at the sight of his true form.

Upon awakening, he had found himself quickly becoming bored. None of the forest youkai were of any particular interest to him, though he did enjoy having a bottle of sake or three amongst them. And he certainly didn’t care about the humans roaming the surrounding villages, none of whom could see him as any more than a cat. Which was sometimes a pain because some of them would swat at him with brooms or try to pet him, but it could also sometimes earn him a snack from a particularly weak-willed human. And so Madara had set out on his journey, both to alleviate his boredom and to sample the sweet elixir of the gods. And by sample he meant drink as much as he could get his paws on.

It was on one particular evening, as he trounced down a street, weaving in between human legs and grumbling at them to watch where they were going that something else caught Madara’s attention. A smell. Madara sniffed at the air. A myriad of scents met his nose. Delicious treats, smelly humans, the general mix of a human city. But Madara was good a picking out particular scents and so he seized upon a single, distinctive one. It was a strangely familiar smell. Perhaps if Madara was a more sentimental creature he would feel some sort of nostalgia from it. It also smelled distinctly human, which put him off somewhat, but his curiosity was piqued enough for him to temporary abandon his quest. He had not yet pinpointed any delicious-smelling sake and so he resolved to resume his mission after a brief detour.

He followed his nose to the bank of a river, out of the busier area of the city and onto a grassy slope. It was from here that he could see just what had intrigued him. Had he thought a little harder, it would have been obvious, but Madara had only been mildly curious when he picked up the scent, not enough to go digging through his memories.

On the grassy bank sat a human, a young one. Its back was to Madara, but he could easily see the sandy-colored hair atop its head. It was not a common hair color in Japan and so Madara recognized it instantly. Natsume Reiko, that was the smell. It was the same, but there was something obviously not right. Madara squinted his eyes, sizing up the human. No, it was too young to be Reiko. She had been older than that the last time he had seen her. Yet the smell was unmistakable.

Well, perhaps this was her child. After all, it was a well-known fact that humans made new little humans that smelled the same as them. Madara stalked through the grass toward the human. It was related to Reiko, so perhaps it knew where she was. If he could find her, then perhaps he could get his hands on the Book of Friends. But then again…

Madara had not been sealed for a long time. He had deduced as much from his conversations with the other youkai. But humans lived pitifully short lives. Reiko could be long dead by now and this was some distant descendent.

He examined the creature carefully. He was not particularly fond of humans and especially not their children. They had a propensity to make ear-bleeding wails at the slightest inconvenience, had practically no useful skills to stay out of trouble, and would on occasion become enamored with his lovely form and attempt to wrap themselves around him like some sort of snake. He did not want to engage with this child, relative of Reiko or not. The kid sat on the riverbank, arms wrapped around its knees. It was small, as most human children were, but seemed to curl into itself which made it appear even smaller. At the moment, it was not making noise, but that could change at any moment.

Madara really did not want to deal with this. He would much rather return to his most important quest. But this child may know the location of the Book of Friends, which would make for an even more spectacular prize than a fine bottle of sake.

While he was considering what to do, a presence struck him that set his fur on end. At nearly the same time, the human child leapt up with a gasp, eyes fixed on something down by river. Madara himself didn’t need to look to know it was a youkai. He eyed the child first. Obviously, it could see the youkai from its reaction. Not surprising, considering its relations. But a human with powers had its uses. And despite this human child’s small size, Madara could sense it had a great deal of power.

He turned his attention to the youkai that had slunk out of the water. A massive, dripping form of coarse black hair with a single, giant eyeball in its center, its pupil moving about rapidly. From its body protruded several humanoid limbs—four arms and two legs, bent at awkward angles to support itself on the ground. Madara took a step forward, fur bristled. He could feel malice from the thing, which was enough to put him on his guard. However, it was not especially powerful, a mid-ranked ayakashi that would be of no danger to Madara.

The youkai’s eye darted towards Madara but settled on the human child, who stood frozen, face pale. From somewhere within its tangled form came a voice.

_…licous…_

_…you can see me, child of man…_

_…you smell delicious…_

And with a speed unexpected from its misshapen form, it lurched forward in the direction of the child. The human cried out, took one step backwards, and slipped on the slightly damp grass, sliding back down to the ground. It threw its hands in front of his face but Madara had already sprang into action, launching himself in front of the child. No way was some weakling youkai going to steal away his mildly interesting potential meal. If anyone was going to eat this kid, it was going to be him.

Madara released his purifying light, which was enough to send the youkai scurrying back to the river with a cry of pain. Satisfied with his work, he plopped down in front of the child, who was still hiding behind its arms. Slowly, it lower them to gaze at the creature before it.

For a moment Madara contemplated his next move. He could speak to the child, who would certainly be able to understand him. Then he could ask about his desired prize. But it was clear from the way the child looked at him—without fear—that it hadn’t seen what Madara had done with its eyes closed. To this child, Madara must appear as a completely ordinary cat. Surely this kid, who must be afraid of ayakashi, would be frightened of such a powerful creature as himself too. If he scared it off, he would lose his chance to learn the location of the Book of Friends.

It only took a second for Madara to decide that his next course of action would be to do nothing. The child watched him, a small smile on its face. Madara did not make a habit out of reading human body language, but he had learned a lot simply from being around Reiko. The child had a smile that was not altogether happy but not completely false either. The child reached out a hand towards him and Madara internally groaned at the idea of being squished by yet another human child. But this kid simply lay a hand lightly on his head, rubbing his fur slightly. This was something Madara could put up with.

“Hello there,” the child said, voice quiet, almost hesitant. It was somewhat off-putting. What was Madara supposed to do in a situation like this? How was he supposed to interact with this creature?

The child rubbed him behind his ears, which was admittedly kind of nice, like getting a free massage. It seemed content to pet him in silence, which was fine by Madara.

Not much time had passed when the child leapt to its feet once again, though this time Madara sensed no youkai presence to be concerned about. It picked up its backpack, turning to take one last look at Madara. “I’m sorry, I have to go now. I’ll be late…”

Human children were supposed to return to their homes when night fell. That was a well-known fact. However, Madara wasn’t ready to let his potential prey get away that easily. So as the child began to walk back up the river bank towards the street above, he followed.

Most likely hearing Madara’s paws rustling in the grass, the child turned around, frowning sadly. “I’m sorry, you can’t come with me. The people I’m living with…probably wouldn’t let you.”

Madara had no intentions of dealing with other humans besides the one he had focused upon, but he lagged behind, giving the child a moment to get ahead. Stealthily, he crept after the human, careful not to make any noise. The kid walked with its head down, hands grasping its backpack straps. It did not seem to act much like Reiko, at least from what Madara had seen. Reiko had been louder, more brash. She didn’t shrink into herself the way this child did. But the sight of its back walking slowly down the street, alone, that was something that reminded Madara of her. Always alone.

He followed the child out into a residential area, one that Madara would best describe as “shady”. He quickly took a look about, it would be a pain if his prey ended up getting mugged by some stupid human. If something else was going to attack it, it should at least be another youkai.

The child didn’t seem particularly perturbed by its surroundings, but it did walk with cautious, tentative steps. Eventually, it stopped in front of one door of a two-story apartment block. For a moment, it seemed to hesitate, one hand raised slightly above the door handle, before it pulled the door open and stepped inside. The door swung closed behind it, leaving Madara on his own, lingering a bit down the street from the building.

He huffed. While it was to be expected that he probably wouldn’t be able to get into a human dwelling while visible to humans, he didn’t like the prospect of waiting out in the cold while the child slept. If he was going to take a break from his quest, now would be an excellent time to do it. He could head out and bully the local youkai population out of something to drink. If the child hadn’t been eaten by youkai yet, it would be unlikely for it to be eaten while Madara was away. Just as he had taken a few steps away from the apartments, the evening sky above opened up and rain began to pour down.

With a growl, Madara wheeled around and made a mad dash in the direction of the apartment building, taking refuge under the second floor walkway. What luck! Youkai were generally good at predicting changes in the weather, and Madara was no exception, but he hadn’t really been thinking about it either way. He grumbled in irritation. Here he was, cold, wet, and completely sober, crouched next to a shady apartment building filled with smelly humans. Noisy ones too, he could hear some of them yelling through the thin walls. With a long suffering sigh, Madara shook out his wet fur and curled up, resolving to take a nap until morning arrived. After all, it really wasn’t that long of a wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Madara awoke to the sound of shouting. That was enough to instantly put him in a foul mood. He opened one eye to glare at the human making a ruckus right next to his napping spot. It was an adult human, a female, wielding a broom and waving it in his direction.

“Ew, get out of here! Shoo, shoo!” It shook the broom to punctuate its shouts. “Filthy raccoon!”

Madara bristled in anger. It was insulting enough to be called a cat, but “raccoon” was on a whole different level. Was this stupid human blind! He looked nothing like a raccoon! He growled in annoyance and took a swipe at the broom being brandished in front of him, hoping to make it clear to the idiot human that it would not be victorious if it wished to start a fight. It had been a while since he had last eaten, and he supposed this thing would make for a decent meal. 

Fortunately for the human, though not for Madara’s stomach, it retreated back into the open apartment door from where it had come. Madara idly noted that it was the same apartment that the Reiko-child had entered the night before. What a pain. He shook the dust from his fur, grumbling to himself about the indignity of it all.

The next thing that left that accursed apartment was thankfully the child. It emerged from the building looking much the same as yesterday—head down, hands clutching its backpack straps. The only difference was the large purple spot spreading across its cheek. A human injury, Madara recognized it as. Reiko had always had bruises as well, mostly from the rocks the other children so often flung at her.

The child began walking towards the road. He (it, whatever) stopped when it caught sight of Madara, looking down at him nervously.

“I told you not to come here,” he said sadly. “I’m sorry, you can’t stay.”

It was somewhat amusing that the child spoke to him as if he could understand. Well, he could, but a regular housecat wouldn’t and Madara was sure that the child had no idea that he was not such a cat. It had shown no signs that it was in any way suspicious of Madara’s behavior, which was promising, as it would hopefully make this child easier to fool into relinquishing the Book of Friends. Assuming it was in the child’s possession.

Well, at least it made it easier to discern what the child was thinking. As he turn to walk away down the street, Madara took a moment to stretch before hopping up and following.

It was still early for humans, but many were already out and about, including other kids. Presumably, they were all making their way to the schools where human children spent their days. Another place that would be troublesome for Madara to get in unnoticed. But it did give him plenty of time to investigate the child’s home in search of his prize.

From behind the pair of them, the sound of children’s laughter arose. The Reiko-child hunched over slightly more, gripping his backpack straps more tightly. Madara shot a glance over his shoulder. There were two human children some ways back, giggling to one another. One of them took a look up to glance at Madara and his prey.

“Hey, Natsume!” It yelled out. Madara’s ears perked up at the name. So he had been right in his theory. Not that he’d had any doubts about it.

One of the children jogged up behind Natsume and Madara, the other following a bit behind. Natsume did not stop, nor did he turn to look at the others. The first child looked at Madara and cackled.

“Hey Natsume, is that your cat? Why is it so ugly?”

Madara bristled. He was already itching to eat these little brats for insulting his gorgeous form, but decided to restrain himself for the sake of his mission. He would find himself some human food to steal later in exchange.

“Oh, no, that’s…”

The other child, not listening to Natsume’s stuttering, picked a stick up off the ground and tried to prod at Madara with it, though he simply danced around it, urge to kill steadily rising.

“Here, give me that!” the first child said, yanking the stick away from the other. Instead of trying to hit Madara again, it jabbed Natsume in the shoulder.

“Oooh, Natsume look! It’s a spooky ghost!” The other child laughed at its friend’s antics. Natsume flinched slightly, but did not respond again.

Madara, satisfied at no longer being a target, watched Natsume carefully as it sped up slightly, the other children keeping pace.

“Oooooooh, ooooooh it’s so scary!” The first child snickered along with its friend. What a pain, Madara thought. This was why he hated human children. Always so loud and obnoxious.

The other child, apparently wanting a chance to mock Natsume as well, scurried up beside him and shoved him hard in the side. Natsume gasped as his foot slipped on the wet street and he tumbled down into a puddle of muddy water. The two children burst into laughter.

“Oh no, Natsume! The ghost pushed you!”

“Yeah, it was the ghost, okay!”

The pair of them took off, apparently not wishing to stick around long enough for an adult to take notice.

Madara padded over to his prey, who sat still in the mud, cold water soaking into his clothes. His head drooped and Madara could see his lower lip beginning to quiver. Oh no, it was going to cry. He hated dealing with crying children. Frantically, he thought of ways to stop whatever wailing, ear-bleeding fit Natsume was about to break into and at last did the only thing that came to mind, which was to sit up straight in front of the child and lift one paw up in the beckoning gesture.

Natsume stared at Madara blankly for a second before he began to giggle softly. Madara sighed in relief at the crisis averted. At least his lucky cat form had come in handy for once. The child slowly climbed to his feet and walked to Madara, smiling. It was the same smile Natsume had worn before, one not quite fake but certainly not genuinely happy. It reminded him in some ways of Reiko’s smile, yet was strikingly different. To Reiko, her fake, bold smile had been a weapon to wield again humans and youkai alike. If that was the case, then this child’s smile must be a shield, an attempt to protect himself from a world that was nothing but cruel to him. Perhaps he needed to wear such a smile so as not to break.

Natsume leaned down to lay a hand on Madara’s head. “Thank you, kitty.” Though Madara wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for. “What’s your name?”

Oh dear. Madara couldn’t very well tell the child his name, and he knew how much humans loved to give names to things. Though perhaps that was for the better, on the off chance this child turned out to be some sort of mastermind looking to enslave him. Though there was no way it would be able to accomplish such a feat.

Natsume puzzled for a second, clearly trying to come up with a name. “Hmm, how about…Nyanko?”

What was _that_ supposed to be! Madara was prepared to hiss in displeasure, but the child smiled, seemingly pleased with his naming choice. Oh well, he supposed it wasn’t the worst name to have. At least it had a certain ring to it. Though he would prefer something with a little more respect.

Well, whatever. It wasn’t like he was sticking with this kid for the long term. Just until he could get his hands on the Book of Friends, and then he would be able to return to his comfy life of sake-drinking and food-stealing. As far as Madara was concerned, that time couldn’t come soon enough. He’d had enough of napping out in the cold rain.

Meanwhile, Natsume was making a futile effort to wipe the mud off his clothes. He looked upset, but it wasn’t like there was anything Madara could do to help. Still, he waited patiently until the child gave up in dismay, shrinking down again and continuing his walk to school. It seemed that Madara’s cheering up had not lasted long. That was how humans were, always so moody.

Though, Madara supposed, he wouldn’t be terribly pleased if his fur were to get all muddy either. So he supposed that was fair.

He followed Natsume the rest of the way to school before doubling back towards the apartments the child had come from. It was time to find his prize.


	3. Chapter 3

When Madara returned, the apartment was quiet, the woman that he had seen before apparently out and about. Perfect. Now it was just a simple matter of finding a way in. The windows and doors were locked and so he resorted to squeezing himself through an airduct missing its cover, almost regretting the last seven sweet bean buns he had eaten yesterday. On the other side of the duct was, unfortunately, a cover, but that was for him to break through and for the humans to deal with later. They deserved it for calling him a raccoon anyway. Maybe when he was done here he would eat all of them up, including the children who had mocked him. Licking his lips at the thought, Madara pushed his way through the flimsy vent cover and let it clatter to the floor.

He poked his head into the apartment and immediately wrinkled his nose in disgust. The place stank of cigarette smoke and alcohol, and not even the good kind, some cheap beer or the like. He gazed around the area he was in, a small room with soiled tatami mats and trash bags shoved in the corners. A futon that nobody had bothered to put away lay in the middle, surrounded by several beer bottles. He wondered at first if he had ended up in the wrong apartment. There were no signs that any small human children lived here. However, when he sniffed the air he could smell the child’s familiar scent through the stench.

He hopped down and began to pick his way through the disgusting room. There was nothing that seemed of particular importance, and he didn’t fancy opening any of these trash bags to search for the Book of Friends. Surely Natsume kept his stuff somewhere, if he could just find it then he’d be set.

He wandered out into a small hallway, with nothing but a small kitchen and TV stuffed in the corner. Beyond that was the front door. Nothing there. Impatient and about to start knocking things about, Madara returned to the main room and caught sight of a closet he had previously overlooked

He slid the door open. On the shelf of the closet, a futon was set up, small enough only for a child. He sniffed it. It smelled of Natsume. Finally, he had found something. Under the closet shelf he came upon a single worn cardboard box. He guessed this was where Natsume stored his belongings.

Inside the box, Madara was disappointed to find there wasn’t much of note. A few pairs of clothes and several books that were decidedly not the Book of Friends. A stuffed cat, well-worn and missing an eye, sat atop the pile of stuff. Madara sighed, clearly these were just the belongings of any old human child, but he searched through them anyway a second time just to make sure. Nothing. What a pain. He was beginning to feel like this whole operation had been a waste of time. It would be best to leave and go elsewhere.

Yes, Madara decided, that was what he’d do. He didn’t need to waste his precious time on some dumb child. It would probably be better to return to Yatsuhara if he wanted to find the Book of Friends that badly. Or he could simply resume his exploration.

He took a few steps towards the window before he stopped and looked back. It still felt as if there was some reason for him to stay here. He puzzled over it for a moment. Perhaps Natsume had hidden the Book of Friends somewhere else. And even if he didn’t have it now, maybe he would be able to assist Madara in finding it. He must have some knowledge of Reiko and her whereabouts or at least where her belongings must be. Yes, that was what his instincts were trying to tell him. He just had to stick around this child for a while and he would be rewarded. He could handle that.

Just as Madara had made his decision, he heard the sound of the front door squeaking open. He sniffed at the air—it didn’t smell like Natsume, so he quietly slid the closet door shut, situating himself on the futon.

He could hear the sounds of a human moving through the apartment. It smelled like the stupid human who had called him a raccoon this morning. Maybe he could eat it before Natsume got home. No, that would just cause more issues. Instead, he listened through the thin walls in the hopes of gathering information.

He could smell cigarette smoke drifting through the air and the sound of a chair sliding across the rough floorboards as the human took a seat. Madara could hear it speaking to someone over the phone, blabbering on about random nonsense that he promptly tuned out. It lasted several minutes before his ears perked up at the sound of a familiar name.

“I swear, Yumi, that boy has been nothing but trouble. It’s ridiculous is what it is…yeah, last night he came home late again. No regard for me and Sato at all . . . no, I don’t care if he wants to run around all by himself, but he’s always coming back after curfew. What if he gets picked up by the police! I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of trouble!”

The human sighed in exasperation. Madara heard the sound of a bottle cap popping. “And last night, he was making all sorts of noise again. Screaming about his imaginary monsters or whatever. I swear, he just wants to torment us! I can’t believe it, we invite him into our home but he still has to beg for attention all the damn time! I mean, think about poor Sato! He works all day and when he comes home he has to put up with that little brat screaming all the time. It’s no wonder he’s always drinking, is it!

“Never have kids, Yumi, they’re nothing but trouble. Nothing but trouble, I tell you! . . . yeah, yeah, but the government money isn’t worth putting up with this. I should have known he’d be trouble, everyone else was saying it. It’s no wonder no one wants to keep him! I figured we could just feed him leftovers and be able to get a bit of extra money, but if anything we’ve lost money on the brat. Sato lost his job because of him, you know! . . . yeah, I know he wasn’t supposed to drink at work but he wouldn’t have to if that kid wasn’t driving us both up the wall! And now I’m going to have to get another job, I just know it . . . don’t worry, we’ll get him out of here soon. There has to be someone out there who’ll take him. Some bleeding heart will take pity on the “poor orphan” and then we can finally get back to our normal lives!”

Jeez, what a racket, Madara thought. The only thing he cared about from their conversation was that the child was an orphan. If Reiko was still alive, he would probably be living with her, whether she was a mother or grandmother or what. It was to be expected that Reiko was dead by now. Humans lived such pitifully short lives. But it was still a bit of a shame to learn, if only because it meant Madara would have an even harder time finding the Book of Friends.

Yeah, he decided. That was pretty much the only reason.


	4. Chapter 4

Natsume returned home late in the afternoon, after another adult human had come back as well. It and the stupid woman were watching some loud, obnoxious tv program full of annoying laughter, so even Madara’s sharp ears didn’t notice the child’s return until he opened the closet door and promptly froze. Natsume stared down at Madara. Madara stared back. Obviously, the kid wasn’t expecting the cat he had found to make its way into his apartment.

“Nyanko, you can’t be here. You’ll get in trouble!”

Madara, not wanting to argue or stay in this loud place for any longer, leapt out of the closet. Fortunately, the adult humans were out in the hallway getting more beer. He clambered up onto the windowsill and pushed it open. Natsume watched him leave and gave him a little wave goodbye.

It was nice to get a breath of fresh air. He’d spent too long inside that stupid closet avoiding the humans. He really needed some good food before he went insane. Fortunately, there were still plenty of humans out and about.

For the first time since Madara had begun his little pet project, which was all of 24 hours ago, he got the chance to indulge a bit. Humans were not very bright and so that made it easy to creep into liquor stores, quietly slip bottles off the shelves and flee before any humans caught on. Most of them did not suspect a cat to be stealing alcohol, which Madara could easily use to his advantage. He had a small party by himself in a back alleyway, flaunting his spoils to a couple stray cats who seemed disinterested.

Finally content and a bit tipsy, Madara set about part two of his adventure, which was to steal some human food. This was as easy as finding a decent bakery and waiting outside until a human exited with an especially full bag of treats. Then all he had to do was headbutt them in the legs, transform into his true form, and grab the bag as it fell towards the ground, leaving a mystified human staring at the empty space they had thought they’d dropped their sweets.

Madara immediately held himself a second party, gobbling up as many assorted snacks as he could and taking one more for the road.

He teetered along the streets, now mostly empty, gripping a single _anpan_ in his mouth and humming to himself. He wasn’t quite as drunk as he would like to be, but it would be good to keep his wits about him if he wanted to be on the lookout for potential clues to the Book of Friends.

He found his way back without much trouble to the apartment and was pleased to find the window was still open. The humans were no longer in the main room, instead apparently having dinner out in the hall. He scurried back over to the closet, sliding the door open. Natsume was sitting inside, flipping through a book. He yelped loudly in surprise, clamping a hand over his mouth immediately.

One of the humans banged on the other side of the wall. “Shut up in there!” A few bits of plaster fell from the wall above. Natsume flinched, curling in on himself. He looked down at Madara.

“Hello Nyanko,” he whispered. “Sorry, I thought you were…”

He trailed off, leaning down to pick back up the book, which he carefully placed back in the cardboard box. Then he picked up Madara, who might have protested if his mouth wasn’t full of bean bun.

Natsume placed Madara next to him with a gentle smile. He stroked Madara’s head for a few moments. His stomach rumbled loudly and he placed one hand over it, lowering his head.

Yeesh, children sure were troublesome, Madara thought. Always getting hungry and tired and thirsty. How did they even survive?

Begrudgingly, he placed the _anpan_ in Natsume’s lap. The kid looked at it in surprise as if he hadn’t realized that Madara had been carrying the bean bun at all. Then, he smiled happily and picked it up.

“Thank you, Nyanko.”

The two of them sat in silence as the child ate his meal. He looked content for once, Madara thought.

After finishing his food, Natsume slid the door closed, leaving a small opening supposedly in case Madara wanted to leave.

The child drew the blankets around himself and Madara curled up at the end of the shelf, still a bit tipsy and ready to sleep. He hadn’t had a restful night before, and so Madara immediately dosed off.

He woke up to the sound of Natsume _screaming._

Madara leapt up, fur on end. He had been so deeply asleep that he hadn’t even noticed the overpowering scent of malice.

The youkai from the previous day was leaned over Natsume, misshapen hands squeezing his neck. The child flailed about frantically, kicking at the creature. Madara prepared himself to attack and hopefully finish off this creature once and for all.

A light came on outside. With a screech, the youkai darted out through the gap in the closet door. Madara had almost leapt down to chase it when the door slammed open.

It was one of the adult humans, the man who he had smelled earlier. Madara slunk back into the closet. Natsume, coughing, tried to sit up but the human grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the closet.

“I’m sorry!” Madara could hear Natsume say. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Dammit, you brat!”

Madara heard the sound of a slap and Natsume’s whimpering. He stuck his head out through the open door.

Natsume was doubled over, one hand over his cheek. The human towered over him, fuming. The smell of alcohol filled the air.

“What the hell did you do? What’s wrong with you, you brat? Do you know how much that window’ll cost to fix? Do you?”

The human raised its hand again and Natsume threw his arms in front of his face, shielding himself as the man struck him again and again. “Can’t you behave yourself for one damn night? One damn night without all your screaming, that’s all I ask, why can’t you fuc—”

Madara dashed out from the closet and sank his teeth into the human’s legs. It hollered loudly and tried to shake Madara off, spinning around in a circle. Madara hung on for a couple of seconds before he leapt off and bolted to the window before the human could catch him. It was shattered into pieces from the outside, presumably by the youkai.

He hovered behind the apartment for a moment, listening to the ruckus inside. The adult humans were yelling about the “rabid raccoon” and he could hear the sound of them rummaging through the apartment, presumably looking for him. Natsume didn’t seem to be the focus of their attention anymore and so Madara decided it would be fine to leave until the commotion was over. So he followed the scent of the offending youkai. He’d had to relinquish his last bean bun and now he was itching for another snack. Plus, he didn’t want that thing coming after _his_ prey again.

He found the thing back by the riverbed. It tasted of seaweed, so he spat it out lest he end up with a stomachache. Whatever, the youkai wouldn’t be returning, not after seeing Madara’s true form.

He returned back to the apartment. It was quiet now and the lights were off inside. He climbed back in through the window and made his way quietly to the closet. The two adult humans were asleep on the futon in the middle of the room, probably too drunk to wake up for anything.

Natsume sat curled up inside the closet, this time undisturbed by Madara’s appearance. He just smiled sadly and closed the door behind Madara, who leapt up to join him on the bed.

Natsume rubbed Madara’s head. “Thank you for trying to help me. But you shouldn’t do that. It’s not their fault, it’s because I…” The child’s lower lip quivered. “I’m too difficult to live with. They were nice to me at first, it’s only because I cause so much trouble…”

Madara watched Natsume carefully from beside him. It was probably too dark for the child to see but he had no trouble making out Natsume’s face in the dark. He drew his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them.

“You…probably shouldn’t stay with me either. You might get hurt too…”

The mark on the child’s cheek had grown, a red handprint overlapping the dark purple bruise. Madara didn’t get injured often, he was too powerful for that, but on the rare occasion that he was wounded, he was able to take care of himself. But humans were such fragile creatures, especially human children. So Madara, foregoing his pride for the moment, climbed into Natsume’s lap and licked at his cheek. It always helped for him to lick his own wounds, though he had trouble doing so in his round lucky cat body.

Natsume sniffled, wrapping his arms tight around Madara.. He buried his face in Madara’s fur, shoulders shaking and Madara could feel drops of water soaking into his fur. He sat still in the child’s arms, head resting against his knees.

It didn’t take long for Natsume to cry himself to sleep. He ended up unfolding onto the bed and Madara took a moment to pull the covers over him. Fragile humans tended to get sick if they were cold, he remembered. The child’s face contorted slightly as he tossed about, and so Madara returned to his side, sliding under his arm. In his sleep, Natsume curled his hand around Madara, pulling him close. It was as good a place as any to sleep and so Madara closed his eyes and dozed off.


	5. Chapter 5

Madara woke up with a mild hangover and a number of more pressing concerns, first and foremost being what he had been thinking last night. He’d gotten himself way too mixed up in everything, from attacking the adult humans to comforting Natsume. It didn’t make any sense, because why should he care what happened to the child. He wasn’t attached or anything. Definitely not. Why get attached to humans, such simple creatures with their pathetically short lives.

Yeah, he didn’t care one bit. Everything he’d done had been perfectly logical. Because he needed to build the child’s trust so he could get the Book of Friends. Of course, that must have been what he was thinking. Madara was a very logical, sophisticated being who knew what he was doing when it came to manipulating the simple minds of humans. He had just been a little too drunk to remember his highly thought out plan of attack.

Satisfied in restoring his dignity, Madara followed Natsume to school again. Fortunately, there were no annoying brats today. He waited patiently outside as part of his master plan, Operation “Gain Natsume’s trust so he tells me where the book of friends is and then I can eat him”. He found himself a sunny bench to take a nap on, so it wasn’t so bad.

The day was remarkably uneventful, too much so, Madara thought. His suspicions were proven correct when he return to the apartment with Natsume to find a strange car parked outside.

Natsume, for his part, didn’t seem too surprised. Madara waited for him since the adult humans were inside already, but in just a few minutes the child returned, carrying the cardboard box in his belongings.

He set it down for a moment and went to speak with the human inside of the vehicle, and Madara took the opportunity to stow away inside. It was worn enough that there was a small hole in the side for Madara to peak out of. Natsume picked the box back up with significantly more effort, but fortunately humans were not very smart and so it seemed he failed to notice anything was off. He placed the box inside of the car and took a seat beside it.

“Thank you, Mr. Watanabe.” Natsume looked down at his lap, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “I’m sorry that you have to take me in.”

The man in the front of the car took a moment before replying. “It’s fine, kid. Are you okay? Did they…treat you alright?”

Natsume raised a hand to his cheek. “Oh, yes. Yes, they treated me fine,” he said quickly, a fake smile on his face.

Madara could feel the car begin to move. “Good,” the man said, and that was it for their conversation.

They rode for a long time and Madara began to get uncomfortable, crammed within the cardboard box with the edges of book digging into his side. He pushed the flap open. Natsume turned at the movement and gasped loudly.

“Takashi, is everything okay?” the man from the front asked as Natsume shoved the lid of the box closed.

“It’s nothing, sorry!”

After the human had turned his attention back to the road, Natsume removed his hand from the box lid and looked at Madara in what he must have thought was a stern expression, though he really just looked nervous.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered.

Madara crawled out of the box quietly and rested on the car floor, hopefully out of eyesight of the human driver.

Natsume just looked at him with one of those bizarre human expressions on his face. “Why…do you want to stay with me so much?”

Madara just closed his eyes and feigned sleeping. The child reached down once to pet him on the head gently before settling back in his seat.

Madara opened one eye to look at him. Natsume was smiling in that sad way he always did.

“Thank you,” he whispered, though Madara wasn’t sure what for.

The car ride was long and too bumpy for even Madara to sleep through. He watched Natsume instead. He had thought the child would be glad to be leaving behind the cruel humans he had been living with, but it didn’t seem that way to Madara. Natsume sat still, head leaning against the car window as they rode along, his face blank. He looked resigned, like he was going through some sort of routine motion.

After a number of hours, the car pulled up next to a moderately sized house in a residential neighborhood. Madara crawled back into the box before they stopped and took his position in front of the peephole. From the doorway came a human woman, dragging a small child who seemed about the same age as Natsume behind her. The child had a surly expression on its face, staring angrily at its shoes.

“Welcome, Takashi,” the human said pleasantly, though to Madara it sounded rehearsed. After a moment, she shook the shoulder of the child beside her. “Kouta, say hi.”

“Don’t wanna,” the child said, glaring at Natsume, who was too busy trying to pick up the box full of Madara to notice.

“Would you like some help, dear?” the woman asked.

“No, that’s fine. Thank you.” Natsume held the box to his chest and staggered away from the car. Madara once again almost regretted his snack from the night before.

“Kouta, why don’t you show Takashi to your room.”

Kouta groaned in annoyance, but turned back to the house with a stern look from the woman. Natsume followed behind it cautiously, like he was too afraid to touch anything, still stumbling under the weight of the box. Madara couldn’t see much from the jerky movement except for the back of the bratty child who apparently already lived here.

Kouta slid open a door to a small room with excessive force. The inside was already filled with children’s toys. It pointed to a corner and said “put your stuff there. Don’t touch anything, okay.”

Natsume did as he was told and Madara stayed put, knowing it would probably cause trouble if he showed himself now. They had only just arrived and while Madara supposed these people were better than the previous couple, he could already tell that he would be having many a headache in the near future.

“Now leave. Go be weird somewhere else,” Kouta ordered, shoving Natsume out of the room. Madara rolled his eyes, shuffling about on the pile of books and clothes. He should probably try to make himself a bit more comfortable, it didn’t seem like he’d be leaving anytime soon.

“Don’t walk so close to me!” Kouta snapped, and Natsume slowed to a crawl with a soft apology. The other child rolled its eyes and sped up, kicking at the street as it walked.

Madara followed a few paces behind the children. His body was still stiff, it had taken several hours before Natsume was able to return to the room to let Madara out. He’d decided it would be better to stay outside for the time being and so he had spent the night in a tree, flicking acorns at a dog in the next yard over to amuse himself. The bratty child didn’t seem to care about Madara following Natsume about and thankfully seemed more interested in avoiding the kid than taunting him. Madara didn’t want to have to cheer Natsume up any more than necessary. It wasn’t in his nature to be friendly to children.

However, he had resolved to stay near to Natsume for the time being. He could already tell this town was crawling with ayakashi, as smaller towns tended to be. He kept a careful eye out for any malicious presences, though fortunately his powerful energy seemed to scare off most of the small fry.

While Natsume was at school, he wandered about, had a bit to drink, though not enough to be a liability in the event he needed to defend the kid from an attack and stole a couple manjuu as well. He deserved a bit of a treat now and then, after working so hard as a bodyguard to some dumb human child.

He returned in time to catch up with Natsume, who was looking up and down the streets nervously. There was no sign of the little brat, to Madara’s relief, so he trotted up to the kid.

“Nyanko,” Natsume said with a nervous smile. “Um…do you remember the way back?”

What? Why was he supposed to remember something like that? Well, whatever, it would be easy enough for him to follow the scent of the annoying humans. Natsume seemed to trust that he somehow understood, rather foolishly, Madara thought, but at least it meant he followed without any resistance.

The pair of them walked along, Madara in the lead, trying not to get too distracted by the smells of food or animals. About midway through their journey, his nose picked up the scent of youkai, and a nasty one at that. Madara went on alert, fur standing on end as he searched around for the presence. The pair of them were alone in some back alleyway, which would be the perfect time for an ayakashi to make a move.

Down the street appeared a hunched over figure, humanoid, with a tattered yukata and tangled white hair pouring over its face. Madara could sense the malice from the thing, but Natsume seemed unaware that anything was amiss as he continued to walk towards the youkai. How could the child not realize that this creature wasn’t human? Stupid humans and their stupid lack of sense. Madara stepped out in front of Natsume, causing him to stagger backwards to avoid him and finally come to a stop.

Madara fixed his eyes on the youkai and growled, hoping to match the negative energy pouring from the thing. It was fairly strong, but still no match for Madara. Hopefully it had enough sense to leave before Madara made it his snack.

The thing did not leave, however. Instead, it reached out one shaking, gnarled hand towards Natsume, making a beckoning gesture.

To Madara’s dismay, Natsume began walking towards it again. “Are you alright?” he asked with concern. Madara was tempted to just let the kid be eaten like the idiot he was.

“Come here, child,” the ayakashi said in a croaking voice that seemed to give Natsume pause. “I need help,” it said, pitifully, and that was enough to get Natsume to move faster, until he was almost face to face with the creature.

“What’s wrong?” he asked it as Madara growled beside him. Run, you stupid human! Run.

The ayakashi’s hand snapped to his shoulder and squeezed. Natsume cried out in surprise and stepped back, but the thing moved too quickly, grasping his other arm with its long fingernails and throwing him hard against the wall of a building.

Madara moved forward, leaping in front of Natsume and releasing a burst of blue light at the thing. It shrunk away, but didn’t flee, presumably still intent on getting its meal. So Madara did the only thing he could do—he took on his true form. It was a tough fit for him in the alleyway, but he was able to seize the ayakashi in his massive jaws and shake it about. He bit down hard and the creature exploded with a shriek. It did not make a good meal.

He shrunk back to his normal form, plopping back to the ground in front of Natsume, who was staring blankly at him, leaning against the wall and rubbing his shoulder over and over. Well, he supposed that the jig was up.

For a moment, there was silence between the two of them, before Natsume spoke in his soft voice.

“You’re…you’re…” He trailed off and didn’t continue.

“You could at least say thank you.” It was the first thing Madara thought to say, though he immediately decided it was a mistake.

Natsume’s eyes filled with tears and he sank to the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs. “I should’ve known,” he mumbled. “I should have known…only a youkai would…would…

“…want to stick around with me.”

“Natsume,” Madara began. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now.

“Go away.” Natsume’s voice broke. “Go away. Go away!” He buried his face in his knees, sobbing. “I _hate_ you!”

Madara took a half step towards him and stopped.

“Leave me alone!” Natsume screamed. “Just leave!”

And Madara did.


	6. Chapter 6

“See, ‘m telling ya. Humans are nothing but trouble. They’re stupid, smelly, annoying, an’ they take up way too much time! Oh, and they’re needy too! Super needy. There’s really no reason to stick around ‘em at all. It’s just way too much of a pain. Now bring me more sake!”

Madara flung his empty bottle at the tiny youkai in front of him and hiccupped. It was his third one already and he was longing for a nice manjuu to compliment the taste, though he doubted one of these pitiful little youkai could get any for him. Even the sake they’d managed to get was mediocre at best.

“Stuuupid humans. I only stayed ‘round so long in case I could get the Book—somethin’ interesting out of it. A big old waste of time that was! I ‘ad to sleep in the rain like some stray! I ‘ad to keep cheering up the stupid kid, all the dang time! It was always gettin’ worked up over something. Humans are all so emotional. I don’t know how they deal wit each other, ya know?”

The youkai had already scurried away, Madara realized, but he didn’t care. At least the little weaklings around here knew to respect someone with his power. It probably helped that he’d gobbled up the one from before. But he had already decided that after he had finished ranting about all the trials he had suffered though, he would never think about that miserable experience again.

Madara lounged back on the leaf bed he had threatened the little youkai into making for him. It was not particularly comfortable. Stupid leaves. Stupid humans. They could at least give him some sort of soft, comfy bed if he was going to waste all his valuable time on their silly antics.

“That’s all their good for! Beds and food. I should just enslave ‘em all and get ‘em to make me beds and food all day long! That’d show them to be so—so annoying!”

The youkai was still missing. It better not have run off on him.

“Stupid youkai too! I could get sake faster than you losers! I’d do it myself if it wasn’t such a pain!”

Everything and everyone was stupid, Madara decided. Except for sake and manjuu. Those were the only non-stupid things in the whole stupid world.

He hiccupped again. A couple more drinks and he would probably be able to forget this whole experience and maybe even belt out a song or two. And if the youkai didn’t applaud this time he’d definitely eat them all up.

The little youkai returned, staggering under the weight of the sake bottle. Another one of the mediocre stuff. Madara groaned in annoyance.

“H-here you go, Madara-sama,” it said. It’s stupid nervous voice reminded him of the stupid nervous brat so he chucked an acorn at the creature and sent it scurrying away. He only realized afterward that it had been the last of the youkai catering to him. He must have scared the others off at some point too, though he didn’t really remember when.

“Oh well, it’s fine by me!” Madara declared, opening the sake bottle clumsily with his paws and guzzling it down. “It’s better being by myself anyway. All these stupid…stupid…”

Madara flopped down on the leaf bed and promptly dozed off into a drunken sleep.

He slept through the entire day and spent most of the next nursing a hangover. Why should a youkai as powerful as him have to deal with hangovers anyway? Madara cursed the annoying world and whatever alcohol god had decided hangovers were a good idea in the first place. He should find that god and eat it, though he didn’t really feel like being cursed.

He moaned, rolling around on the forest floor. He could see a few birds, standing upside down and pecking at the sky. Actually, he was the one upside down, he realized. He swung a paw at the creatures and sent them flying away. He waved his paw in the air for a bit before relenting.

“What a pain.”

When Madara finally felt well enough to move about again, he took the time to explore the forest he had somehow found his way into, terrorizing any youkai that had the misfortune to step into his path. Though he was still a bit too queasy to consider making them a snack.

Madara wandered aimlessly, or at least he thought he did. He stopped short when he arrived at the edge of the forest. Beyond was the small town that he had left behind, along with Natsu—with the stupid child. He had certainly not returned here by choice, he had just happened to encounter it. Well, whatever, he was a bit tired of the forest anyway and he would like to find some better sake than what the weaklings could produce.

So Madara reentered the town with some trepidation. Well, it was unlikely he would encounter that child again. It was probably off doing whatever human things it did. Or maybe it had been eaten by a youkai. Madara’s only regret would be that he didn’t get to eat the kid himself. Yep, that was his only regret.

With confidence in his detachment from the stupid human, Madara walked along the streets with his head held high. Hopefully, there would be a human somewhere he could rob of some delicious food. He found himself a ramen shop and pressed his face against the outside, hoping his lovely face would cause one of the humans inside to take pity on him and bring him some delicious ramen.

Unfortunately, they were all too busy. Madara was considering taking matters into his own paws and breaking through the glass door when he heard the sound of a familiar voice.

“Nyanko!”

Madara flattered his ears back and hissed. Stupid kid, what did it want? He darted into an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. He could hear the child calling out for him. It didn’t seem to have spotted him, thankfully. Instead, it seemed to be wandering about calling for him. Whatever, it could do what it wanted. Madara set off in the opposite direction of the voice. He was not getting wrapped up in this again, not a chance.

By the time he reached the other side of the town, it was getting late. Shops were beginning to close for the night—he had forgotten that human businesses seemed to shut down earlier out in the countryside. Madara reached a nice smelling sake shop just as the owner was pulling a shade down in front of the store. He rolled around on the ground and moaned in distress, but unfortunately the human did not pay him any mind. Just another reason to add to why he hated humans.

“Nyanko? Where are you?”

The voice was closer this time and Madara jumped back to his feet. Why was this kid so persistent? Just a couple days ago it had insisted that it hated him, so what did it want now?

He ducked into another backstreet and listened. Really, he should run off somewhere else to make sure he wasn’t discovered, but that sounded like a lot of effort for some little brat. Instead, he peered out at the street.

He caught sight of the child as he stopped, hands on his knees and out of breath. “Nyanko!” He gasped, looking about. “I’m sorry! Please come out!”

No way, Madara thought in irritation. He prepared to get as far away from Natsume as possible, but as soon as he turned away, he tripped over an empty sake bottle and stumbled.

The sound was enough to alert Natsume, who turned and locked eyes with Madara. Drat! Madara took off, hearing the sound of the kid running behind him. Just give up already!

There weren’t very many humans out anymore, and certainly none out here in the backstreets. Natsume should just go home if it didn’t want to be eaten. Madara wasn’t going to save him again. Maybe he should just turn around and eat the kid now. That might be a good idea.

The sound of Natsume’s running fell further and further behind. Madara’s form may not be ideal for running, but the kid didn’t seem to have very much stamina. He slowed to a walk, panting a bit. Running away from humans was not his ideal pastime. He never should have gotten mixed up in all this to begin with.

Though why exactly was Natsume searching so desperately for him anyway. He had made his hatred for Madara perfectly clear. Humans were so two-faced, with their complicated emotions. It would be easier for them if they only cared about themselves the way Madara did. He shook his head in exasperation.

From somewhere behind him, the sound of Natsume screaming caught his ears. He froze, looking back quickly, but the child was too far back for him to see.

He should just leave. If the kid had run into some youkai, it could handle them itself. Madara wasn’t interested. He would do what he had said he would and leave.

He took a couple steps away and looked back over his shoulder just once, quickly. Nope. No way. He was leaving now.

He heard the sound of a struggle somewhere behind him. “I’m leaving now,” he confirmed to the air around him.

He took a few more steps away and paused. He needed to leave. Now.

But as much as he wanted to, it seemed Madara’s feet wouldn’t move. He cursed loudly, wheeled around and ran back in the direction of the sound.

Just as he had suspected, another youkai had gone after Natsume. It seemed the kid could never catch a break. A tiny weakling, nothing but a massive head with pointed teeth, was clamped onto Natsume’s arm as he frantically shook at it. Ugh, this thing probably couldn’t kill the kid. He never should have come back. In fact, he should probably take the opportunity to eat the kid now.

Instead, he leapt up in the air at the youkai, which screeched when it saw him and let go.

“Sorry, you can have him!” It cried out, flying off around a corner.

Natsume slid to the ground, rubbing at his arm. There were a few spots of blood soaking through his sleeve, but not enough to be concerning, Madara decided. The kid locked eyes with him and Madara considered running off again. But if he did that then Natsume would probably follow and get himself hurt again.

Natsume smiled at him. “Nyanko, you came.”

Madara huffed. “Why are you so excited? I thought you hated me, remember?”

When Natsume’s face fell, Madara wondered if he had been put off by his tone. But the kid didn’t seem to be mad at him. If anything, he seemed mad at himself.

“I’m sorry about what I said to you. I—I didn’t really mean it, it’s just…” he stumbled over his words, looking down at the ground in regret.

Madara sighed, striding over to him. “Whatever, I don’t care. You humans can say whatever strange things you want. Doesn’t bother me.”

Natsume smiled, face still soft and sad. He reached out a hand to Madara and rubbed at his head.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to…but would you like to stay with me? Just for a little while?”

Madara shrugged. “Eh, I supposed. You still need to pay me back for the bean bun I gave you.”

Natsume laughed, picking up Madara and setting him on his shoulder. Madara considered protesting, but decided that a free ride was a free ride. Plus, the kid seemed happy.

“Let’s go, Nyanko.”

“Sensei.”

“Huh?” Natsume turned to look at him in confusion.

“Call me Sensei. Nyanko-Sensei is fine too, I guess. But I deserve respect!”

Natsume smiled, climbing to his feet and turning back in the general direction of his house.

“Let’s go, Sensei.”


End file.
